


Aligned

by ZedElla (Leviarty)



Series: Aligned [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 04:38:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4377500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leviarty/pseuds/ZedElla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You would think that, somewhere along the line, they would learn to stop touching unknown Lantean equipment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aligned

**Author's Note:**

> Because who doesn’t need more kidfic?

You would think that, somewhere along the line, they would learn to stop touching unknown Lantean equipment. It was seldom without consequence, and, more often than not, the consequences were fatal.

McKay would argue that it’s rather impossible to discover the purpose of the equipment without pushing a few buttons.

So Sheppard, out of boredom and curiosity, followed McKay down into the uncharted areas of the city, day after day. He rarely went off-world anymore – the IOA wasn’t too fond of the commander of Atlantis putting himself in harm’s way unnecessarily (though, they also weren’t too fond of him being in charge of all Atlantis either, but Woolsey had somehow convinced them that he was the best man for the job). And though he complained often, he was happy to let Lorne’s team have that honor of flagship team. Atlantis still had plenty of secrets to share, and mysteries to solve, even after six years of exploration.

“Any idea what this one does?” he asked as they entered the lab.

“None whatsoever. I’m beginning to think they intentionally left little clues in the database. It’s almost like they wanted us to fall into all of their dangerous experiments.”

“Or maybe the Ancient who used this lab was doing experiments without permission from the others.” It wouldn’t be the first time they’d found such ‘illegal’ activities.

“Best not to touch anything, then,” McKay said, connecting his tablet to the main console.

Sheppard, of course, was no better at keeping his hands to himself than McKay, and started fiddling with some of the side consoles.

“Didn’t I just say, _don’t touch anything_.”

“Rodney, you asked me to escort your down here-”

“Yes, to be my security in case something horrible happens, not to be the guinea pig.”

“What horrible thing are you expecting to happen?” he asked with a hit of annoyance. Nonetheless, he removed his hands from the consoles, and wandered toward McKay.

“Like I said, I have no idea, but given all the other things we’ve discovered, I’m taking necessary precautions.”

“You could have had any Marine escort you down here. Contrary to popular belief, I do actually have duties of my own to attend to.”

“Hush, I’m reading.”

John rolled his eyes and took a few steps closer, peering over Rodney’s shoulder.

A beam of bright, red light descended from the ceiling, engulfing them both. They stared at one another with wide eyes, but the beam dissipated in seconds.

“We’re both still alive, that’s a good sign,” John said.

“And we appear to not have swapped bodies,” Rodney said. He reached for his comm. “Carson, we were just hit by a beam of unknown light in one of the Ancient laboratories. Would you like us to come to you, or do you feel like making a house call?”

“Rodney,” John said, tapping his shoulder.

Rodney turned. “What is- Well that’s… new. Carson, better make that a house call.”

*

“What have you two gotten yourselves into this time,” Carson asked when he arrived twenty minutes later.

“From what we can tell, the machine didn’t actually do anything to us,” Sheppard said. “Just scanned us.”

“Yes, well, I don’t trust your grasp of the Ancient language, so why don’t we let the good doctor verify that?” McKay asked.

“Why don’t you both start by explaining what happened? From the beginning.”

“We walked into the lab. I told him not to touch anything. As usual, he didn’t listen.”

“This is _hardly_ my fault,” John shot back.

“Next thing we know, there are lights all around us. And when they went away, _that_ appeared,” he said, pointing.

Carson’s expression changed from one of concern, to one of glee. “Aww, look at the wee little lad!”

*

Once Carson was fairly sure that no dangerous virus was likely to be spread to the city, he relocated McKay, Sheppard, and the baby to the infirmary to run every test he could.

“DNA results are in,” Carson said. “That baby is, 100%, yours. Both of yours.”

“How is this even remotely possible?” Rodney asked, clearly outraged.

“Calm down, Rodney,” Sheppard said. He was standing over the baby’s tiny bed – the one he had appeared in – making a variety of obnoxious faces.

“Calm down? It’s a _baby_. A tiny human baby.”

“Yes, Rodney, I know what a baby is.”

“It is human, right?” Rodney asked, suddenly very concerned. “I mean, maybe it isn’t even an Ancient device, maybe the Wraith-”

“He’s human, Rodney,” Carson assured him. “He’s a perfectly healthy, ten month old, human baby.”

“Ten months?” John asked, while Rodney balked.

“Rough estimate.”

“He was just born two hours ago!” Rodney exclaimed.

“Technically he wasn’t born,” Carson said. “And as far as I can tell, he isn’t aging at an accelerated rate. He just… started at this size.”

“Why would the Ancients create something to do this?” Rodney asked. John paid him little attention, and instead allowed the baby to play with his dog tags.

“A number of reasons, I’m sure,” Carson said. “We don’t actually know that much about Ancient society, not when it comes to parenthood, that is. It’s possible that several months of pregnancy was too much inconvenience for expectant mothers. It may have been to aide infertile parents. Perhaps it was just for gay couples who wished to have children of their own.”

“ _We_.” Rodney pointed emphatically back and forth between himself and Sheppard. “ _Are not a gay couple._ ”

Carson rolled his eyes. “Yes, well, nonetheless, you now have a child.”

“Hey, that makes sense, actually,” John said, zoning back into the conversation. “Not the gay couple thing, the infertility thing. I mean, we know the Asgard battled their own infertility for thousands of years. Maybe this was supposed to help them out? Maybe the Ancients were facing a similar problem?”

“Yes, possibly,” Carson said.

“Why does neither of you seem concerned by the _tiny human baby_?”

“Rodney, it’s not like he’ll be the only child on Atlantis.” Teyla had been the first to have a child, but the city was growing in population every week, and the powers that be were even beginning to allow families aboard. As far as Sheppard could recall, there were four babies, including Torren, and two young children that had been brought from Earth with their parents’. With the danger from the Wraith gone, the galaxy mostly at peace, and three ZPMs to power the city, Atlantis was starting to become more than just a flying city, but a home.

“I think he just needs some time to adjust,” Sheppard said, patting Rodney on the shoulder.

“Yes, well, I have a few more tests I’d like to run – with your permission of course – and seeing as neither of your quarters are suited to infant care, I’m not too inclined to release him into you just yet.”

“Release him to us? What are we supposed to do with a tiny human baby?”

“Come on, Rodney, let’s go for a walk. Do what you have to, Doctor.” Sheppard leaned over the incubation bed and tickled the baby’s chin before guiding Rodney out of the infirmary.

“What are we supposed to do with a baby?” Rodney asked again.

“Maybe Teyla will have some insight,” John said. “But my understanding is that people generally feed, bathe, clothe, and play with them. You know, raise them.”

Rodney stopped walking, a look of panic in his eyes. “I am _terrible_ with children. I know nothing about them.”

John closed his eyes and laughed. “I know.” He had spent last Christmas with the Miller’s, and he knew all too well how bad Rodney was at handling children of any age. “We’ll figure it out.”

“We have a kid,” Rodney said, as they resumed walking. It didn’t occur to him that he might be concerned with who might hear – half the city had probably heard the news anyway. “We have a kid. How are you not freaking out?”

John shrugged. “If you had stopped talking for a minute, you might have noticed that he’s pretty cute. And, I don’t know, despite your trouble with toddlers, you’re not the _last_ person I would consider raising a child with.”

“Yes, well, I would imagine I fall somewhere above, say, a Wraith, but I would imagine I’m the last human on that list.”

John shook his head, half a laugh playing across him mouth as he walked away.

*

He wakes up to loud knocking at his door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” the unmistakable voice of McKay says from the other side. John closed his eyes and relaxed into the bed. He hardly had to focus at all for the door to slide open and a dim light to turn on. “Oh, you were sleeping. I assumed you were awake. What time is it?”

“You didn’t think to check on that _before_ waking me up?” Sheppard asked, though he didn’t sound that annoyed. Perhaps he had grown too accustomed to being woken at all hours.

“Sorry. I’ll let you sleep.”

“What did you want?” John asked.

“Nothing. It was stupid.” He turned to leave.

“Rodney,” John said, a hint of warning in his voice. Rodney had woken him up, he damn well better get whatever it was off his chest. John patted the bed near his feet.

“I just… Have you thought about it? Having kids, I mean.”

John shrugged. “Not really. I mean, the thought has crossed my mind, yes, but it’s not like I have elaborate fantasies about 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. Why?”

Rodney shook his head. “I haven’t thought much about it either. But I’m certain… I will be a terrible parent. And, I mean, we’re both busy people.”

“Lots of people aren’t ready to be parents when they have kids; they work it out.”

“Yeah, but a lot of them _don’t_ work it out. I just don’t… I don’t want to royally fuck this kid up, you know?”

“I know, Rodney. But you’re not alone. You’ve got me. And Teyla has got the whole maternal thing down, and I doubt Carson will let us do anything bad to him.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry I woke you.” He stood up and headed for the door.

“Get some sleep, Rodney,” John said, as the door opened, and the lights shut off. “That’s an order.”

*

“He is kind of cute, isn’t he,” Rodney said. He and Sheppard stood on either side of the baby’s tiny medical basket. “Clearly takes after you.” He turned red immediately, wishing he hadn’t said quite that combination of words. “I mean-” but John didn’t seem to notice the slip; he was to enthralled with the tiny child between them.

“I don’t know. He’s got your eyes,” John said.

“Do you think he’ll be smart?” Rodney asked. “I mean, could the universe be kind enough to give him your good looks and my big brain?”

“I don’t know Rodney. Seems improbable, given our luck.”

“Yeah. Well, you’re smarter than the average grunt, so there is some hope.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“God, what are we going to do with a kid?”

“We’ll figure it out,” John assured him for the umpteenth time.

“Well, gentlemen,” Carson said, walking out of his office. “All of my tests have confirmed my initial findings. You have a healthy, human, baby boy. You are free to take him home.”

“Home? We-”

“I’ve called Teyla to help you baby-proof your rooms, and Lt. Correll has found a storage room with a few baby things – cribs and such. We’ll have to start ordering diapers in our weekly shipments again, but I think everything will be fine.”

*

“I think the two of you will make excellent parents,” Teyla said. They were in John’s room, but John was hardly helping with the baby-proofing. He sat in his bed, giggling and poking at the child, while Teyla walked around, pointing out everything that might be a hazard. Rodney followed, making adjustments to dangerous things, hiding sharp things in drawers and filling Ancient outlets with plastic protectors.

There was a knock at the door. With a single thought, it slid open to reveal Ronon, Lt. Correll, and a crib.

“Special delivery,” Ronon said, a wide grin on his face. He was deriving some sick pleasure from the whole situation, in Rodney’s opinion.

Lt. Correll pushed the crib into an empty corner, then pulled out a sack. “We’ve got a crib, a roll up changing pad, and Dr. Troy threw in some diapers.”

“Is that contraption safe?” McKay asked. “I mean, hasn’t it been sitting around in a closet for 10,000 years?”

“Yes sir,” he said. “Dr. Beckett checked it out. The Ancients sure knew how to build ‘em, didn’t they.”

“Got any kids, Lieutenant?” Sheppard asked.

“Yes sir, three. Youngest is 4 years. Battling the Ori was easier.”

“Oh, thanks for that,” Rodney groaned.

Correll laughed. “If you need anything, sirs, don’t hesitate.”

Sheppard didn’t know what he expected from the expedition – maybe a bit more bigotry. But most of the crew was supportive, and though plenty were laughing about the whole thing, it’s was all good natured.

*

“Cute,” Lorne said when he stopped by John’s room upon his return from a week-long mission. “You know, I thought the Marines were kidding around. Some practical joke, huh?”

John was sitting on the floor, the baby bouncing around in his lap. “I’ll say. I still can’t find the punchline. Wanna play with him?”

Lorne shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, I’ve been off world for six days. I smell like an outhouse.”

“I wasn’t gonna mention it.”

“I appreciate that, sir.”

“Hey, Lorne?” Sheppard asked before he left. “Everything go okay?”

“Yep, ran into almost no problems.”

“Good. I look forward to your report.”

“Yes sir. Goodnight.”

*

“ _Col. Sheppard, Dr. McKay to the control room_ ,” Chuck’s voice rang over the comms.

“Can you-?” John started to asked, indicating to the baby.

“Of course, Colonel,” Teyla nodded, taking him into her arms.

McKay and Sheppard arrive in the control room at the same time, and find that a shipment had come in from Earth, along with a person.

“Sam, what are you doing here?”

Col. Carter turned to them. “Well, I heard what happened, and I just had to see for myself,” she said, a gleeful grin on her face.

McKay looked more exasperated than anything.

“Oh, and these are for you,” she said, handing him a giant package of diapers. Her grin, if possible, grew wider.

“Also, these,” one of the airmen said, wheeling over a stack of crates, no doubt filled with baby food, more diapers, and other necessities.

“Come on,” John said, taking the cart. “He’s with Teyla.”

*

“He’s so cute,” Sam said, running her finger down his nose. “Which, frankly, is a bit of a surprise.”

“Hey!” Rodney exclaimed. “I’m plenty cute.”

“And there’s been no signs that he’s actually evil or something?” she asked. She had already done the whole galaxy-dominating-baby with Adria, and didn’t want to watch another friend go through that suffering.

“Seems perfectly normal,” John said. “He came into existence a little bigger than one might expect, but since then there has been no unusual aging or behavior.”

“Good,” she said, making faces at him.

“Why do you all insist on making those weird faces?”

“It helps them develop facial recognition, Rodney,” Sam said. “I’m guessing your parents never smiled at you as a child. That would explain a lot.”

*

He was sick, Dr. Beckett told them. Something about the artificial nature of his creation. His cells were degrading, or unstable, or something. Sheppard didn’t pretend to understand it.

“I don’t want him to die,” Rodney said, once in the privacy of Sheppard’s room. “He’s only been alive for eight days, but I don’t want him to die.”

“Me neither, Rodney.”

McKay left his room, eventually, to finish reading up on the stupid machine that did this, to find some way of fixing him, and John… John’s room feels empty. The crib in the corner was empty, what with the baby under close observation in the infirmary. It had only been a few days, like Rodney had said, but it felt like longer. Now, without the baby, there was silence, and stagnant lights – somehow the kid was able to control a myriad of colored lights over his crib. If John focused hard, he could make the lights return. He didn’t know if it was a baby thing, or if the baby’s ATA gene was more active, or if perhaps the city just liked him better.

*

“How you doing, sir?” Lorne asked, entering the infirmary.

“Okay. I’ve been better,” Sheppard said. The baby was sleeping inside an incubation chamber, under blue lights that supposedly were supposed to slow the rate of degradation.

“He have a name yet?”

John shook his head. “We’ve been having a bit of trouble coming up with and agreeing on one. And now… well, Rodney’s not so sure about naming him if he isn’t going to be around much longer, you know? Aren’t you not supposed to name the monkeys in the experiment?”

“He’s hardly a monkey.” Lorne almost concluded with a joke, but thought the situation didn’t quite merit it.

“I was thinking Elijah,” John said. “Don’t tell Rodney.”

“Elijah,” Lorne repeated. “It’s a good, strong name.” He patted Sheppard’s shoulder. “Don’t give up hope,” he said.

John knew that, with Rodney in research mode, there was an abundance of possibility, but that didn’t stop the feelings of dread and doubt.

*

“I should never have doubted you, Rodney,” he said, happily holding Elijah in his arms.

“You doubted me?”

“For a moment, yeah, I did. But I was wrong. You found the solution, proving, once again, that you can fix the Ancient’s mistakes. Give your ego a rest.”

“I doubted me too, for a little while,” Rodney admitted.

“Well, it’s behind us now. Little Elijah is perfectly healthy once more, and I couldn’t be happier.”

“When did we agree on Elijah?”

“Don’t like it?”

“No, I do. I just don’t remember you ever suggesting it. But I approve.”

The three of them fell asleep in John’s bed, Elijah lying across both their chests.

*

John didn’t remember telling the door to open when Rodney knocked, but nonetheless, it slid open with ease.

“What’s the matter, Rodney?” he asked, recognizing the look on his face. Concern, or worry, or maybe confusion. He wasn’t quite sure.

“Did you… did you want this?” Rodney asked, as cryptic as ever.

“Want what? Rodney, what are you talking about?”

Rodney indicated to the two them, then to Elijah. “Us. Him. Did you want this?”

“Rodney, you’re gonna have to be a little plainer with your words, because I can’t figure out what you’re asking.”

“Ancient devices. We know there’s a mental component. And everything I’ve read about this one says… it says it only works under certain situations. Only if at least one of the donors has thought about it, wished for it. And I know it wasn’t me. But you… you said that the thought had crossed your mind a few times. And that I’m not the last person you’d want to raise a kid with. So… have you ever thought about having a kid, specifically with me, before all this happened?”

“Rodney-”

“Just answer the question!”

“Yes, okay? Yes. I’ve thought about it. Every time I see you with Torren, or when your sister brings Madison to visit.”

Rodney looked shocked, to say the least. “You never said. You never said anything.”

“Rodney, you know I’m not,” he paused, searching for the right words to diffuse the situation. “I’m not the kind of guy to force someone into a relationship they don’t want just because there’s a kid in the picture.”

“Relationship,” Rodney repeated. John was starting to worry that his brain had started to shut down, but he kept talking anyway.

“Lots of people raise their kids separately. It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s not-” Rodney shook his head, then lunged at John, bringing their lips crashing together. John let out a sound of surprise, but quickly recovered and brought his arms around Rodney. Rodney pulled away entirely too soon. “That’s not what I want. I don’t want to be two separate entities raising a kid. I want it to be us. Together.” He paused, suddenly considering an unwelcome possibility. “Unless that’s not what you want.”

John hadn’t let go of him, hadn’t given him any reason to doubt, but-

He leaned forward, kissing Rodney softly. “It’s what I want.”


End file.
